Viewed in
2010
Formats
Netflix HD streaming (Xbox 360)
Premise
Adam Yauch of the Beastie Boys directs a documentary about the first annual Elite 24 Hoops Classic, held at Rucker Park, New York in 2006. The top 24 high school basketball kids in America were invited to this event to compete in a basketball game against each other.
Liked
The highlights, the discussion about high-profile student athletes.
Disliked
Lack of compelling subjects.
Thoughts
If you are a hardcore NBA fan, you will probably enjoy this a lot more than a regular moviegoer.
There was quite a lot of cool footage during the game. You could instantly tell what some players were destined to do in the NBA: Michael Beasley's power-dunking, Brandon Jennings' creative dribbling, and Kevin Love's gorgeous outlet passes. It also contained some behind-the-scenes of the kids at home and prior to the game. While it sucked for the other sixteen, Yauch wisely only followed eight of them, otherwise, the audience would never be able to keep track of all twenty-four.
While the game highlights were fun, and it was amusing to see younger versions of some of these current NBA starters, the most interesting part was the frank discussions about the culture of business and media creeping into these teenagers' lives. These youngsters are smarter today than back in the Marcus Dupree days (note how every teen had a personal trainer), but at the same time there is something unfair about shoe companies throwing swag and media hurling hype at them at such an early age. Obviously I wished for more in depth look at this topic, but at least they did not just gloss over it.
In its entirety, the doc was more style than substance. The eight chosen players were not that interesting (how many high schoolers are?). Other than the media-business-kid discussion, the rest of the footage felt like a puff piece, just another avenue for this kids to get noticed by scouts and sports magazines. The cynic in me doubted that skills only enabled seven of the eight kids to get drafted by NBA teams (Kyle Singler still plays at Duke). The game itself was more of a glorified all-star game; it probably benefited the kids more if they subconsciously gave everyone a shot at showing off, instead of playing for pride like a competitive Rucker Park game would.
First time director Yauch did fine. As mentioned, his choice of focusing only on eight was smart. His affinity for New York and hip hop was lovingly stamped everywhere, with numerous shots of the city and fantastic music choices. He also managed to get a lot of cool shots/angles/coverage of the game itself. The biggest flaw was his inability to get out of of the music-video director mentality every minute of it. With so much camera tricks, video remixing and music-syncing editing, it reinforced that feel of a promotion compared to a documentary.
There were some fun moments, especially watching Kevin Love's early mastery of passing. However, aside from a cynical look at hyped student athletes, this was more of an elongated promotion and highlight reel.
What I would change
Reduced the amount of MTV editing and camera tricks.
Personal
As a Lakers fan, I was impressed that current bench-warmer, Devin Ebanks, was invited.
